The bike is a '74 (might be a '75, if it matters I can go check) Schwinn Varsity.

For a handful of reasons I want to replace the wheels with aluminum. My question is what special tools/components will I need for this? I was eyeing these weinmann wheels which I assume are compatible with the 120mm (or whatever) rear spacing and 5-speed cassette.

https://www.bikepartsusa.com/bikepart...=wheel-27_inch

From what research I've done I think I need some sort of cassette removal tool thingy and rim tape. I've never replaced a wheel before, so a bit of help is appreciated.

as a side question, would this fork be compatible? At $20 it could be easier than tracking down a continental fork. But then again if I had a continental I could use the tubular fork, alloy stem, and alloy handlebars.
https://www.bikepartsusa.com/bikepart...y=fork-27_inch

You don't have a cassette, you have a freewheel. You will need a freewheel puller matching the brand of freewheel you currently own. Actually, if you get a suitable wheel, it would be worth the small expense to buy a new freewheel and chain.

For rim tape, Velox is the only way to go.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but wheels are about the costliest parts on a bike, and replacing them and maybe a fork too could easily involve spending more than the bike is worth.

So unless this bike has lots of sentimental value, I suggest riding it as is, spending only small dollars to keep it going. Bikes have gotten much better in the intervening years with probably the best value for the buck being about 3-5 years ago, before China prices started to offset some of the gains. For less than the cost of upgrading this Varsity, you could get a nicer, lighter, better spec.d more recent used bike, and for not an awful lot more than that a decent new bike.

If you were to bother and drop a bunch of money into the thing..
IGH & Drum brakes make a solid heavy bike simpler.. and year around practical..

The reasons I wanted to replace the wheels:
1. crap braking in the rain
2. they aren't round (makes for a very harsh ride)
3. the rear makes some sort of scratching noise once per tire revolution, only when there is weight on the rear wheel, and it kinda comes and goes randomly (???)
4. live in a hilly area
5. the lack of hook beaded rims has probably led to a few more flats than I care to manage.
6. new old bikes are somewhat hard to come by in this area.
7. $60-80 in wheels etc. is better than $250+ for a used or low-end new bike

I say pull the trigger, BUT at that price your gonna need to check the hub is set right, and lubed, and check the spoke tension/over all true of the wheels.

or, if I was to find some used wheels, what would be an appropriate price? $10 for a set? $20? $50?

Price for used stuff?, you have to haggle with the seller on that .

calling it 'vintage' or 'antique', means they want more money.


A machine built wheel at a bike shop, front, or with rear freewheel hub,
about 40~50$ new.

I've got a set of those Weinmans on my '77 Schwinn Traveller. Spring for a new freewheel, chain, and brake pads. They aren't that expensive, and you will be rewarded with a drive train that is smooth and quiet.
Currently have about 5000 miles on the Wienmans. I installed them right out of the box and they stayed straight. The LBS tightened them up about 1000 miles ago, as part of a tune-up. At that time, they were about 3mm out of true.
I weigh 250, and they do rub the pads just a little when standing and mashing the pedals while leaning the bike to the side.
Very happy with product/price. I would buy them again.

You may have problems with the wheel you selected. If I remember right, the Varsity had horizontal (or almost horizontal) dropouts and sometimes the quick release wheels don't play nice in them.

If you use decent qr skewers (i.e. internal cam types like Shimano and Campy) qr hubs work just fine with horizontal dropouts. The problems come from using boutique external cam skewers that can't generate adequate clamping force. I've used qr hubs on two Bridgestones, an old Trek and my current Cross Check, all with horizontal dropouts, with absolutely no problems, but always with internal cam skewers.

+1000, from the fifties through the nineties QR wheels on horizontal dropouts were the standard configuation, with pro riders climbing the steepest hills in the alps without any slippage. Slippage was extremely rare and easily fixable on anything but the worst of the worst hubs and QRs.

As HillRider says the difference is the changes in axles and QRs. However he and I differ slightly in the issue being the cam design. IMO the key is the quality of the dentation on the axle faces and QR faces, especially the axle. Hard serrated or footed faces bite the dropout the way the jaws on a pipe wrench bite the pipe and provide bulletproof security. But smooth of soft faces cannot bite and like a dull pipe wrench slip all over the place.